Giving Tuesday

This being "Giving Tuesday", I would like to take the opportunity to give thanks and recognition to all of you out there who don't need a special day once a year to encourage you to reach out and help the least of these .. those who with out your support would be in a much harder place then they are now .  I look back over the previous year and think of all that YOU have accomplished, and am amazed.

The most obvious achievement has been the start up and everything around the farm.. currently home to over a dozen incredible  people

and safe house for more, not to mention  a heard of beef cattle, a small murder of dairy cows, a trip of goats , a gaggle of geese, a flock of chickens, and bevy of quail.  A safe of ducks, a Warren of rabbits, 5 swarms of bees and a few too many dogs...and toss in a few pigs and that pretty much sums up everything with a heart beat.

With your support through food shares, we saw four months of almost daily harvests of almost every type of produce one could imagine , some days well into the

thousands of lbs, all donated to orphanages, seniors home, men's home for the disabled, the homeless shelter and the children's homes,

and families in need.  Hundreds and hundreds of litres of produce has been canned for the winter to add to the winter food drops.

We have emergency beds ready for women and children in need and have resources to help them get back on to their feet thanks to those who supported Julie and Acel on the Camino de Santiago. Hopefully awareness has been raised and some have been moved to act and be a voice for the vulnerable people. 

Almost 40 tons of coal was purchased and delivered to families in need to help them to survive the winter. Coats, warm clothes, boots , blankets and mattresses were and are still being handed out to people in need.

The next stage of the hospital clinic has been

completed and we are preparing to put the roof on as soon as funds come available.. but that is not were the medical needs have stopped.  You have helped with heart operations, hearing aids, kidney problems and dental work for many. and again the list goes on.

You have helped with scholarships and training like the 8 kids we have starting drivers ed next week, we are developing teachers, nurses, hair dressers, and trades men.  What ever their minds can dream , we help them to reach their potential.

But maybe the best part of what we have accomplished because of year round giving is that through special outings and events, the
 

kids know early on that they are not alone.. that some one out there cares about them and is there for them for the long haul .

I remember sitting this spring with over a dozen young adults who will be out of the system soon.. we were having a fish fry at the farm.  They were all reminiscing about the fun times that they had had with us over the years .. they felt

comfortable coming to the farm because it was an extension to something that they knew and were familiar with .. we have  the relationship with them that has been cultured over the years... I contrast that to a moment a few years ago when we went to a children's treatment centre where we were brought to a room of half a dozen, all 15 years old.  All of them were there because they were suffering from nervous breakdowns because they were ready to time out of the orphanage and they were not ready and had no hope for the future and no where to go...

I guess that sums up what Giving Tuesday represents for me .. I will think of it, not as a day to ask you for more , but to thank you all for your on going support that enables us to bring HOPE for the future of so many ..  like Mirlan who just today learned how to smile, possibly for the first time.

SO ON BEHALF OF LITERALLY THOUSANDS THAT YOU HAVE TOUCHED THIS YEAR ,  THANK YOU